


After

by TabooMonster123



Series: Sormik Week 2016 [1]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: M/M, ice ice baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-25 09:51:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9814016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabooMonster123/pseuds/TabooMonster123
Summary: The first thing Mikleo does is freeze himself





	

The first thing Mikleo does is freeze himself, so he can grieve.

It is a common misconception that frozen seraphim are frozen in thought as well as body, but this is not true. Or, at least, not entirely; but Mikleo is as powerful as he is young, in seraphim terms— that is to say, very.

So he seals himself away, carefully, so that his body is frozen solid but his mind is intact. It takes him a while to perfect, as he must constantly be both completing and releasing the arte to create a balance of frozen body to unfrozen mind. Too strong, and the arte would freeze his mind, and he would be lost to time; too weak, and the consequences could be extreme.

Mikleo’s grief is, understandably, too strong not to inflict malevolence. But if he could freeze himself, he could ride it out before the malevolence corrupts him too much and turns him into a hellion, or worse, a dragon. And Sorey…

Sorey wouldn’t want to see him like _this,_ either, but what choice does he have? There is no way to extinguish emotion, and Mikleo’s feelings for his… Sorey… would not be forgotten. Ever. He had made a promise, and he intended to keep it. But first he needed to grieve.

Rose and Alisha were the first to find him. 

“Well that’s different!”

“Wh– what has he done to himself?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“We must find a way to release him!”

“Nah.”

A pause.

“How do you mean?”

“How do I mean what?”

“You can not intend to simply– leave him!”

“Well, why not?”

“Do you not see—”

“Look. It’s Mikleo. What d’you think’ll happen if we break him out now?”

“... Well, he would…”

“... Hm?”

“... I don’t know. But it would be better than this!”

“Would it? We don’t know why he froze himself. Maybe he had a good reason to.”

“It’s been hardly any time at all since Sorey—”

“Even better, then. Let’s leave him be. We’ve got a job to do, anyway.”

Time passes. Differently than it does when unfrozen. That becomes a life marker, being Unfrozen versus being Frozen. The malevolence remains.

More time passes.

Lailah comes next, alone.

“Oh, Mikleo, what have you done now?

This won’t help anything!

And I’ve only just left Rose, too…”

She sighs.

She leaves.

More time.

Malevolence. Growing. Slowly, but more than was before.

Zaveid visits.

He breathes.

Breathes.

Sighs.

Leaves.

Time

Darkness

Cold

Quiet

Grief

Sorey

Rose

Dezel

Lailah

Alisha

Edna

Edna.

Edna?

“Weakleo. I knew you wouldn’t last.”

Edna…

“Did you really think this would work? Honestly. You’re so stupid it’s a wonder you still exist.”

Breathing. Closer.

“Wake up, Meebo.”

The ice shatters.

Mikelo opens his eyes.

Standing before him, plain as day, is Edna, hands on her hips and scowl on her face. She whips open her umbrella— a new one— and twirls it threateningly as only Edna can do.

“I seriously can’t believe you right now. Do you know how long it’s been?”

He shakes his head and makes to stand. He stumbles, catches himself, then pushes up on his knees.

“Two weeks.”

What?

“You made it two and a half weeks locked in with your own grief before the malevolence around you started growing too quickly. Weakleo.”

But that’s…

“Get up. Do something. Use that puny brain of yours and go look at an old rock and figure out what age it’s from. Might do some actual good instead of you sitting frozen at the entrance to Camlann. As if anyone could get through Elysium, anyways… Sheesh…”

Steadying himself carefully, Mikleo takes a breath and says, “I was trying to ride out my grief.”

“Grief!” Edna scoffs. “You know what _actually_ cures grief?”

“Nothing?” Mikleo tries.

“Sharing it. Sharing your grief. With the five others who could understand it, too, ideally.” She scoffs again. “Truly an idiot Meebo.”

She turns and walks toward the light streaming in from outside.

***

She meets a young woman in Shepherd’s garb at Elysium.

“Did it work?” She asks.

Edna cocks her head. “Of course it did. Do you doubt me?”

The girl stammers, “O– of course not!”

Edna strides toward the main entrance, shaking her head. “Of course.”

“What did you say?”

“What, to Mikleo?”

“Y– yes…”

She snorts and keeps walking. “That it had barely been a fortnight and that he was an idiot.”

“You _what?”_ She runs up next to Edna, bewildered. “ _Why?”_

Edna shrugs. “Because it’s true.” She stops, turns, looks back at Camlann.

“He _is_ an idiot.”

The Shepherd, still confused, waits for Edna to continue.

“You’re meeting Lailah, right? Where, again?”

She starts. “Uh, Ladylake,” is the answer. “By her Highness’s statue.”

“Ah, yes, Her Highness,” Edna says. She can’t tell if it’s mockingly or not. “Cheery girl.”

Edna starts for Aroundight Forest again. “Well? Are you coming or not?”

The Shepherd follows her, more slowly. “Yes, yes I am.” Quietly, so Edna can not hear, she adds:

“I wonder what she was like…”

**Author's Note:**

> I initially posted this on mobile so the formatting was all messed up. it's fixed now!
> 
> Also written for the Sormik Week 2016 Day 7 prompt: Malevolence/Purity. I just never posted it orz


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